KR Review #81: Tahron

It seems that the impossible might finally become possible! Wow, is it Christmas? Yes, it is!

When PoliganToys first geared up for Key Raiders, there were two items that I immediately started thinking about: the board game that originally inspired this universe and a playset for the toys. The board game could be relatively easy, but the playset seemed impossible. I was reminded again and again of the obstacles: it would be too complicated, too big, too expensive.

A bit more than four years after writing my first review of a KR figure prototype, both the game and the first playset are finally a reality, at least in prototype form. The process to combine them in a single item and to make it not obnoxiously large was definitely complicated. And if it's ever released, it will be expensive. But, on the whole, it will be worth it.

In a nutshell, the Tahron playset is the largest KR item ever to be produced by PoliganToys and can be used for playing the Key Raiders Game, a two-player strategy game played with staction figures and magnetic bricks on a board fitted with two vertical walls. The game's mechanic involves hand management, grid movement and pattern recognition, and its aim is to open a gateway in the opponent’s multiversal wall. The two players try to reach that goal by defeating each other during several battles and fights, in order to remove as many bricks as possible from each other’s wall.

Details

Name: Tahron

Subtitle: mystical land of magic and science

Classification: area of land

Home: Tahron

Affiliation: shared by Theriom, Destructomorph, Rexodon and Spektrosaur

Rank: theatre of war.

Description

The playset/board game features:

• 45 tokens for the game

• A gameboard/battleground scenery

• Two multiversal walls with 100 magnetic bricks (50 gold and 50 silver)

• Four towers that can be placed at the four corners of the gameboard for being used with the KR action figures

• Four additional ramps and countless accessories for the towers

• Three chips that are shaped and coloured like Antikythron crystals

• A six-sided die.

I'm going to describe all these components separately.

Tokens

Each token is composed of a hollow cylindrical grey-brown base and a double mini staction figure - the latter can be reversed and half-inserted into the former, in order to show, in accordance with the progress of the game, either a generic warrior piece (face down token) or a specific one (face up token). The cylindrical base bears a pointer, which is used to indicate the player who owns the piece. The properties of each specific warrior, which are summarised in the table below, are: class (22 Gold pieces, 22 Silver pieces and one Aether piece), a special ability or limitation (only carried by some pieces), faction (11 Theriom pieces, 11 Destructomorph pieces, 11 Rexodon pieces, 11 Spektrosaur pieces and one Neutral piece), agility (a style of moving/capturing similarly to chess pieces – 24 Riders, 12 Leapers and 8 Jumpers) and strength (a numerical value between 1 and 13 or, in one case, equal to 100)

List of game pieces and their properties.

Gameboard

The gameboard/battleground scenery has 100 alternated gold and silver step-stones arranged in a 10-by-10 grid. The 10 rows (or ranks) are denoted with numbers 1 to 10, while the 10 columns (or files) are denoted with letters a to j. The board is divided into two main zones: a Gold Zone and a Silver Zone. In the Gold Zone, rank 1 is called Trench, rank 2 becomes elevated and sustained by a removable Multiversal Wall, rank 3 is called Second Line, rank 4 is called Frontline and rank 5 is called Battlefield; in the Silver Zone, from rank 10 to 6, the nomenclature is identical. The side of the board nearest to file “a” presents a Declaration Area and a Reinforcement Area, while the opposite side presents a Round Area.

Multiversal Walls

Each wall is modelled after the Great Wall of China, and carries a row of 10 alternated gold and silver step-stones on the top as well as 50 removable bricks arranged in a 10-by-5 grid on the front. Each brick bears a symbol related to the KR mythos.

Theriom City Tower (Theriom)

Exterior: this red&gold tower is modelled after Beijing's Forbidden City. There are two gargoyle-like stone statues standing in front of a majestic opening wooden gate ornamented with the Theriom symbol (i.e., a seven-pointed golden star with the two side points elongated); each statue resembles a sitting minotaur/centaur creature with bat wings and a lion head on the back and chest of its humanoid upper body, and has moving head, arms and tail

Interior: a metal sculpture of a chimeric creature (similar to those outside) on a stone pedestal can be positioned on the lower, bricky level and can split open to showcase the three enchanted helmets (which came with Foundation Elykta and are not included with this set). An oval holographic conference table with a map of Tahron can be placed in the council room on the upper level, where scenes related to Tahron mythology/history have been frescoed on the wall and ceiling; the wall also has a holder to store the four halberds in a criss-crossed way, and an escape door that leads to an outside balcony. A Combat Training Robot action figure is also included and can be connected to a swivelling charging unit in the lower level. For those who might have forgotten, at the beginning of the sixth comic issue of the Foundation series, Tir-Hing is shown to struggle with defeating a Combat Training unit and has to be saved by his Troopers. This robot is normally in an R2D2-like diminutive droid form, which is the 5-inch tall version coming with this set. Coloured metallic light-blue, gold and silver, it rolls on two legs and features a two-side body with alternate appearances, so the figure can be turned to be displayed to one's liking. The pivoting domed head (which is ball jointed and interchangeable with other figures) utilises a pair of photo-receptors (a single black camera lens on one side and a more complex bronze telephoto lens on the other side); the bin-shaped torso bears a sort of conical drill bit at the bottom and two symbols on the front (a gold Theriom emblem on one side and a light-blue glowing disc on the other side); the swivelling shoulder articulation joints at the top of the legs hold four fully articulated mechanical arms (two with claws that grasp an axe and a shield on one side, and two with rotating mace and blade attachments on the other side); finally the feet have pairs of motorised all-terrain wheels on one side and small rocket boosters on the other side. Hopefully, one day we'll also get the much cooler expanded form.

Dekropolis Tower (Destructomorph)

Exterior: this metallic light-blue&pearlescent white tower represents the central building of the five-tower decommissioned shipyard seen in the comics. The base features a flooded detention basin, while the front of the building has an opening overhead gate (which, when closed, resembles a broad ladder staircase ascending to the upper level) and two swinging walls that reveal retractable pivoting laser cannons with seats and flip-up canopies (these are removable and can be used as one-man aerial assault vehicles). The upper level shows an open structure reminiscent of a launch bay, flanked by two sculpted doors and surmounted by an elliptical observation window. The window has been modified by Deptilion by adding some railings, which make it appear almost like an insect eye from a distance. A removable turret on top of the domed roof can work as an escape pod that seats one figure in a lying position

Interior: the lower level is used as a prison and has two giant chains, which are made of plastic and are connected to a flat disk attached to the ground (almost any figure can be cuffed to these shackles). The floor with the attached chains can be lifted to reveal a magma chamber inhabited by a horrifying worm-like, star-nosed creature with a number of fleshy, beady-eyed radiating tentacles around its monstrous snout (the monster emerging from the red hot magma is a separate piece and has a ball jointed head). The upper level looks like a technological laboratory and shows, alongside a Destructomorph emblem (i.e., a square-shaped blueish spider whose back slightly resembles a demoniac face, partly chiselled on a shield above the observation window and partly wrapped around its frame), many sculpted details such as pivoting control panels, pipes and cables, while a secret compartment made to slide horizontally in and out of the ceiling/floor between the lower and upper levels allows for hiding Deptilion's halberd.

Rokang Tar Tower (Rexodon)

Exterior: this dark-bronze&steel building, which is modelled after the ogival, redented towers of Angkor Wat, is the tallest of the four towers and the one that has most features. However, apart from a curved stairway that leads to a sort of rose window displaying the Rexodon symbol (i.e., a red reptile skull), there's not much going on outside

Interior: there are four floors - the base (or foundation), two mid-levels and a top level. The base has a dungeon with a sculpted floor grate, an angular metal cage and an opening door, to hold one prisoner. The lower mid-level has a throne, which fits Bi-Harr's figure and is suspended from the ceiling, and a round vault-like entrance door hinged on the wall (which is the inner side of the rose window and has a bird-like gargoyle on top of the inner frame). The upper mid-level has a computer console (with images on the screen that can change by turning a dial) mounted on the wall as well as a slot through which the top of the throne fits; a circular piece of plastic locks the throne in place and can be concealed by a chair that allows a figure (for example Loghar) to sit at the computer. The throne can be moved by turning the circular piece around, allowing a trap door (which appears like a low-rise stairway climbing towards the throne) on the lower mid-level to open and a figure to drop in the dungeon. The front of the bud-shaped top level of the tower (which features some great detail work - with some difficulties, you can make out a reptile skull in its pattern) can swing open, revealing a base for attaching a swivelling/hinged cannon with seat, dual handgrips, HUD face shield and spring-loaded firing mechanism for two missiles; the cannon base shows some nice tech-mech details such as circuitry and gears, and can also serve as a perch for a Pterajet. Each level of the tower can be reached by a working elevator, which can be manually raised and lowered by means of a Rexodon emblem-shaped hand crank (not sure this will be included in the final product) at the base of the elevator shaft; the shaft has a ball jointed ceratopsian skull ornament on top, which can also be used as a head for any figures.

Artelon Tower (Spektrosaur)

Exterior: this grey&ochre tower is modelled after Petra's Al-Khazneh. The central feature of this building is the giant cobra head-shaped facade with eyes and fangs that glow in the dark. The base features a moat as well as a lockable two-segment drawbridge (which folds in the shape of the number 1) as the cobra's gaping mouth; by pushing a stone-button in the adjacent wall, the chained, toothed drawbridge drops down and extends across the moat, thereby letting a figure enter the tower. A number of weapons are sculpted into the bottom of the moat, alongside various bones, a series of footprints, and a crocodile with a hinged upper jaw right under the drawbridge. There is also a separate turtle figure that can be placed in the moat. The moat is fed by a greenish waterfall off the side wall of the building, which is also visible from the inside; the falls are slightly translucent, so if you have a light source behind it, they look like they're glowing... that's pretty menacing! Additionally, rubber pieces resembling trickles and drips of the greenish fluid adorn the top of the tower and the floors inside the building, respectively. A pair of viper-shaped statues emerging from the walls to the left and right of the cobra facade have scaly upper bodies in defensive posture that can fictionally animate to lunge and bite at any interloping warriors (in the toy, they can pivot, bend forward and open their jaws using two handles on the inside of the tower); there are four metal chains that run from the cobra's hood to two metal "collars" around the vipers' bodies

Interior: the lower level simply features the entryway from the front, sided by two stone pillars along with some stickers adorning the space atop them. The stickers are quite interesting - they resemble bookcases with mystical items such as an animal statue, a crystal ball, a skull, a small treasure, and a key, as well as some maps and other fun knick-knacks. The upper level showcases a lizardy theropod skeleton (with ball jointed head) set on a stepped stone base, which works as a bone-throne for Lor-Drek. Two Spektrosaur standards (each made of cloth and displaying a greenish flame) as well as two wooden torches on the wall (which work as handles for moving the viper statues) flank the throne behind, while two floor flames illuminate its front; additionally, two slots at the rear accommodate Lord-Drek's halberd and wooden staff, completing its authoritarian aura. Two wooden grappling ladders that can hang anywhere (there are some slots and notches here and there, to help them be more stable), and four horned skull-shaped bony grappling hooks, which can be used by the Spektrosaur Troopers to swing along the front section chains, are also included.

Ramps

Each tower has a matching ramp that can lead to the gameboard, when it is used as a battleground scenery, or can potentially work to connect the towers to future building extensions.

Game rules

The rules of the game are almost identical to a similar game named WallBreach^TM.

Setup

The board is placed with a gold step-stone at the right-hand end of the rank nearest to each player. The player nearest to the Gold Zone is referred to as the Gold Player and the opposing player is the Silver Player.

At the beginning of the game, gold and silver bricks are separately shuffled face down by each player. Each group of bricks is arranged face down in a 10-by-5 grid and then attached to one of the two Multiversal Walls. The two players exchange their walls and these are placed on ranks 2 (Gold Wall) and 9 (Silver Wall); the step-stones on the top of each wall must match the step-stones on the board. Each player rolls the die; the higher roll determines the dealer for the first battle. The tokens are shuffled face down and dealt randomly to each of the two players.

Each player receives a total of 20 tokens, which are placed on the board as follows:

• 10 tokens are positioned on the Trench (rank 1 or 10) and then instantly turned up and revealed

• 5 tokens are positioned on the Second Line (rank 3 or 8), on the step-stones of the same class (gold or silver) as the corresponding zone

• 5 tokens are positioned on the Frontline (rank 4 or 7), on the step-stones of the opposite class as the corresponding zone, and then instantly turned up and revealed.

Additionally, the remaining 5 tokens are dealt on the five step-stones of the Reinforcement Area.

Declaration

After the deal, players call in turn, starting from the dealer’s rival, electing either to declare or to pass.

A declaration for the current battle is represented by a double roll of the die, which determines:

1. The target number of wins (1 → 6 wins, 2 → 7 wins, 3 → 8 wins, 4 → 9 wins, 5 → 10 wins, 6 → a re-roll must be made by the the same player)

2. The faction that will be ruling (1 → Spektrosaur, 2 → Rexodon, 3 → Destructomorph, 4 → Theriom, 5 → Neutral, 6 → a re-roll must be made by the the same player).

For example, a declaration of 7|Destructomorph indicates that the player intends to win at least seven fights with Destructomorph being the ruling faction. A player who declares 7|Destructomorph may be outdone by his rival on 7|Theriom or 7|Neutral, but not 7|Spektrosaur or 7|Rexodon. Other options are to declare 8 or more of any faction, or pass.

Eventually, one of the two players passes or loses and the declaration is decided. The declaration result and winner must be indicated on the apposite areas on the board using the chips. The numbers enclosed between square brackets in the Declaration Area are used for calculating the score at the end of each battle.

If nobody makes a declaration, the battle is declared dead and a re-shuffle and re-deal is made.

It is important to note that:
• The Deity behaves in all respects as a member of the ruling faction; it is the only ruling piece when the ruling faction is Neutral; it is the highest piece and always wins over every other piece
• The strength of a D-piece depends on the declaration: 8 for D-pieces of non-ruling factions, 13 for the D-piece of the ruling faction and 12 for the auxiliary D-piece (i.e., the D-piece of the same class as the ruling faction)
• The auxiliary D-piece behaves in all respects as a member of the ruling faction and not of its original faction.

Game play

Each battle focuses on 10 fights and ends with a total of 10 step-stones conquered on the two Multiversal Walls. The declaration winner throws the die and, in accordance with the result, checks the corresponding space in the Round Area. Along with the instructions indicated, the players alternately move four pieces (one at a time) on the board.

For example, if the value of the die is 3:

• The Gold Player moves one piece from rank 1 to rank 5

• The Silver Player moves one piece from rank 10 to rank 6

• The Gold Player moves another piece from rank 4 to rank 5

• Finally, the Silver Player moves another piece from rank 7 to rank 6.

Each piece may be moved on either the same file or an adjacent one. Players must follow the lead faction, if they can. When the first piece belongs to the ruling faction (including the Deity and the auxiliary D-piece), this must be followed by any other piece that is considered a ruler (again, including the Deity and the auxiliary D-piece), if possible. If a player no longer has any pieces of the faction that is led, he may play any piece in his side.

After all four pieces have been played, the strongest ruling faction piece or, if no ruling faction piece is played, the strongest piece of the lead faction is named the Raider. The player who owns the Raider is designated the Attacker and moves the Raider to any unoccupied step-stone on the opponent’s Multiversal Wall. The opposing player is the Defender and may start a combat which involves the three pieces on the Battlefield ranks and the Raider on the wall. All the other pieces are not involved in the combat and do not obstruct the combating pieces, which may move in accordance with their agility.

At this point, four cases may occur:

• The Defender cannot engage in any combat, since neither piece in his possession can capture any Attacker’s pieces. The Attacker wins, the fight is over and the Defender’s wall is conquered by the Raider, which is now named the Conqueror

• At least one Defender’s piece can capture an Attacker’s piece. The combat continues with the players alternately moving and capturing one piece at a time, until the player to move has no further legal moves or gets his C-piece captured. This player loses and the fight is over. The combat winning piece is named the Conqueror and is moved to any unoccupied step-stone on the wall of the losing player

• The Defender cannot engage in any combat, since neither piece in his possession can capture any Attacker’s pieces. However, at least one Defender’s piece is a B-, D- or H-piece with a special ability: it can invade the Attacker’s Frontline according to its agility, and collect one token in the Reinforcement Area. The Defender checks the identity of the collected token behind his own wall, sorts through his pieces in the Trench, discards the least-useful one (possibly including the piece picked up from the Reinforcement Area) and places it face down aside. The Attacker wins, the fight is over and the Defender’s wall is conquered by the Raider, which is now named the Conqueror

• The Raider is the Deity. The Attacker wins, the fight is over and the Defender’s wall is conquered by the Raider, which is now named the Conqueror.

After each fight, the Conqueror returns face down and plays no further part in the battle, although it is not removed from its position (its step-stone on the wall remains occupied). Any other pieces that played part in the fight and are still present on the board are removed from play. Any exposed Second Line tokens advance one leap straight and are turned up. The winner of the fight throws the die to determine which player leads on the next fight.

Once all 10 fights have been played, the battle is concluded and the score is calculated. The player opposite to the previous dealer deals for the next battle.

Score calculation and end of game

During a battle the goal is for each player to accomplish at least the declared number of wins.

For example, if the final declaration is 8|Theriom:

• A player wins the battle winning at least eight fights and is awarded the removal of a number of brick-pairs from his rival’s Multiversal Wall equal to the sum of the values between square brackets on the Declaration Area, in this case 8 [11] + Theriom [4] = 15. There is no extra score for any additional fights the player may win in excess of the declaration

• If none of the two players wins eight fights or more, half the number of brick-pairs is removed from the wall of the player who won the fewest fights or, if the battle is a 5-5 draw, from the wall of each player. In this case, the total number of brick-pairs is odd, then it is rounded down to the nearest even number, which is 14 (seven brick-pairs are removed).

The rules of the brick-pairs removal are inspired by Shisen-Sho, a Japanese tile-based game, and can be summarised as follows:

• Only two matching bricks can be removed at a time

• Two bricks can only be removed if they can be connected with a maximum of three horizontal and/or vertical lines, starting and ending at the centre of the bricks

• Lines may only pass through removed bricks.

A player wins the game by removing all the 50 bricks from the rival’s wall or when future moves are not possible, even if bricks are left on the wall.

Overall, the first KR playset and the KR game are here! I had a blast reviewing Tahron. Yes, it’s big, but I’m so glad I got it. PoliganToys did a great job with this thing... it just wouldn't be a toy line until it got a playset and a related game. It also makes me wonder if they could do it again. Is there really a chance this giant could sit at the centre of my floor with expansion parts around it? Well, even if I don’t get other playset pieces, this one is what I needed. It should be the triumphant culmination of the line. And I think it is that.

Happy holidays!!!

KR|Dimness Review #25: Qermetas

Toy prototype details

Name: Qermetas^TM

Subtitle: violent minion

Line: KR|Dimness

Item type: action figure - Nº 21 in the line.

Character details

Name: Qermetas

Classification: mutant human

Sex: male

Home: Tahron

Era: 5 years before Foundation

Affiliation: Dark Legion

Rank: first lieutenant.

Background

First appearance: KR|Dimness #3 - Into dimness: Part II – Escape

Brief bio: during the Reptonoid domination of O-Kin^TM, the kingdom's population suffered the mutating effects of the chemical weapons deployed by Bi-Harr for psychological manipulation. A small percentage of the inhabitants who emerged were born with defects, and while some were fitted with electromechanical prostheses, some others were ostracised and banished from O-Kin. Those outcasts were eventually welcomed by the mysterious chief monk Mohrdax^TM into the shelter of his monastery near the Ucamur^TM region. When Wordron befriended Mohrdax, many cloisterers, including a one-armed and disfigured man named Qermetas, sided with the Dark Legion in their conflict with the Forseha tribe. Desiring to become a menacing warrior, Qermetas stole small amounts of stone and steel from the monastery's storage of construction materials and allowed the evil grand marshal to create a new armoured helmet and a reinforced prosthetic arm for him. As deadly as he was monstrous, Qermetas used his powerful punches and headbutts to get his wicked way. After Wordron's demise, he took over the former Dark Legion fortress in Ucamur, ruling it with a stone-metal fist.

Articulation

Standard.

Description

Head: reddish sunburnt skin, solid blue glowing eyes with a prominent brow ridge and two evident under eye bags, a scar on the right cheek, two large sharp teeth protruding upwards from the lower jaw, and a prominent chin. He wears a metallic purple helmet with dark-blue details (including two large screws in the back to keep it firmly in place), whose edges seem to merge with his flesh in a sort of Frankenstein's monster fashion, and whose top bears a large, thick flat piece of grey stone reinforced with blueish-grey steel plates

Body: reddish sunburnt skin, spiky elbows, several scars. He has an oversized Hellboy-like right forearm and open hand made of grey stone reinforced with blueish-grey steel plates

Wearables: a thigh-length dark-blue garment with lune-shaped purple decorative patterns, two metallic dark-blue bracelets (the one on the right wrist is just a narrow band) and two metallic dark-blue boots with partially open shafts. The garment is a tubular cloth open on the left side of the body and gathered around the waist with a spiked metallic dark-blue belt; the top edge is fastened over the left shoulder by a blueish-grey steel fibula that kinda looks like a strange lock, while the right shoulder is left uncovered.

Action feature
In the comics, Qermetas has a powerful stone-metal fist that projects to a moderate extent for a super punching action, which he uses to hit his enemies and knock them out. This telescoping feature works by popping the forearm off just below the elbow and attaching an extended version of it with a harsh clench of the fist. That’s wonderful!

Additionally, the original concept of this character also featured an extending stone neck, which would allow his head to strike out and forcefully thrust with the heavy top of his helmet into his foes. I'm glad that this detail was removed from the comics and replaced with simple headbutts (yes, suspension of disbelief has its limits), but I'm also happy that a long, curved neck extension was included in the package. Besides its awesome stone design, I like the fact that it still works with the ball joint on the neck.

Weapons and accessories

In addition to the arm and neck extensions, Qermetas includes a club-like weapon consisting of a spiked ball mounted on a shaft. The long, two-handed wooden shaft is reinforced with four metallic purple langets, while the attached wooden head (which is seemingly slipped over the top of the shaft and reinforced at the base with a metallic purple band) is adorned with metallic purple spikes nailed to the outside (a longer spike extending straight from the top and many smaller spikes around the particle of the head).

Final thoughts

Character value: ♦♦♦ He's not the most interesting character or figure in this line, but he's really well done

Articulation: ♥♥♥ This figure is sturdy and well articulated, and all of his joints are nice and tight

Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣ The sculpt is a mixture of new and reused parts, but everything goes well together. The limbs are covered with interesting marks and blemishes that show Qermetas' troubled history. The head sculpt is excellent and the torso overlay is very well executed too

Accessories: ♠♠♠♠ I love his crazy mace weapon, it's massive and absolutely awesome. And that extended fist, oh boy! - not only it looks good, but it also really adds some character to the figure. He looks terrific with it, although due to the size it makes him a little likely to topple

Playability: ♪♪♪ He has all of the poseability and playability one could want. He is going to appeal to every potential KR collector

Overall: ☺☺☺ I think Qermetas is a pretty great figure. I'm honestly quite satisfied with this guy and find that I like him much more than I thought I would. He's very well sculpted, and his stone-metal forearm is not as ridiculously oversized as the comic book version, but large enough to be notable and... just bizarre.

KR|Dimness Review #24: Masq-Lor (Dimness Edition)

Toy prototype details

Name: Masq-Lor^TM (Dimness Edition)

Subtitle: predestined hero

Line: KR|Dimness

Item type: action figure (triple figure) - Nº 20 in the line.

Character details

Name: Masq-Lor (meaning "destined for victory")

Classification: human-primivod* hybrid (but he looks completely human)

Sex: male

Relationships: foundling discovered and cared for by the Forseha tribesmen; Xehrea's love interest

Home: Tahron

Era: 5 years before Foundation

Affiliation: Forseha; Dark Legion (temporarily)

Rank: tribe bowman; temporarily, monstrous servant of Wordron.

*Primivods^TM are fictional anthropomorphic marsupials that can interbreed with some other species of mammals and produce fertile offspring.

Background

First appearance: KR|Dimness #1 - Into dimness: Part I – Awakening

Brief bio: rescued from the waters of the river Atogg^TM in his infancy by Dakun, who recognised the child as the hero prophesied to end the war between the mammalian and reptilian peoples of Tahron, Masq-Lor was taught to survive in the harsh jungle environment and to protect himself from the wrath of potential enemies. The boy, blessed with remarkable fighting skills, soon turned out to be crucial when the peace of the Forseha tribe was plagued by the vengeful Wordron and his army of Plant Creatures. Surrendering himself to the Dark Legion's leader in order to save his fellow hostages, Masq-Lor became the first victim of the dreaded Mother-Plant, the evil creature that coated its prey with a viscous resin enchanted with pure wickedness. The mutated form of Masq-Lor that burst from the hardened material became Wordron's menacing mind-controlled servant and was ordered to help subdue the Forseha tribesmen, until he was freed from the curse by his own will and by his companions' encouraging words. To turn the tides of the battle, Masq-Lor killed the Mother-Plant, setting free its other potential victims, and managed to eradicate the remnants of devilry that gave power to Wordron. After regaining his normal form, Masq-Lor at last single-handedly destroyed the demon, while the Forseha tribe defeated the rest of the Dark Legion once and for all.

Articulation

All three figures have the standard articulation, except that the normal form's right hand is especially engineered with a hinge to hold an arrow.

In the comics, our hero is transformed into a monstrous zombie-like creature after being subjected to one of the most gruesome and fascinating concepts in the Dimness line – the sticky, viscous resin exuded by the Mother-Plant's flower. Despite the two figures represent the same character, they render the two alternative forms and appear very different. Although it's not clear whether these figures will be released individually or in a multi-pack, I'm going to describe them separately.

Normal form

Description

Head: light brown skin, thick, long black hair, green eyes. He sports a band of dark-brown raffia fibre tied around the head and a lock of hair held by a loop of dark-brown raffia fibre on each side. He definitely looks like a teenage version of his Foundation counterpart

Body: slightly shorter than the adult characters (only 14 cm, around 5.5"), light brown skin, exposed torso, arms and legs

Wearables: a light-green necklace with a gold medallion resembling the Theriom symbol (i.e., a seven-pointed star with the two side points elongated, modelled after a small tattoo found by Dakun on the child's skin), two light-green bracelets (the left one is actually a bracer), two light-green gladiator sandal-boots, a light-green belt with a round golden buckle, and a diagonal-cut black leather skirt. The cross-strap bracelets and sandal-boots as well as the necklace and belt are made of woven grass, while the faux leather skirt is complete with some nice details that make it interesting to look at, such as scalloped edges, dark-brown stitching, and flaps folded over the top.

Weapons and accessories

In the comics, Masq-Lor is depicted as a very skilful archer and, of course, the figure comes with a bow, several separate arrows and a quiver with two belts. The dark-brown wooden bow is roughly carved with leaf-like motifs on the limbs and snake-head decorative designs on the tips, while the black leather quiver is ornamented with leaf-like light-green patterns and can be attached either to a loose fitting black leather waist belt (which carries a small bag on the opposite side) or to a black leather shoulder belt.

Additionally, the package includes slightly smaller versions of two weapons that came with Foundation Masq-Lor: the sword (with silver blade and wooden hilt) and the oval wooden shield (embellished with a big golden Theriom symbol).

Finally, to recreate the battle seen at the end of the second comic issue Masq-Lor's quest, we get two extra heads, both wearing the helmet that belongs to Wordron and Barkos: one for the younger Dimness Masq-Lor (with the inactive helmet) and one for the older Foundation Masq-Lor (with the activated helmet).

Mutated form

Description

Head: anthracite (i.e., near-black or very dark grey) skin, untied rust hair, white glowing eyes (surrounded by red edges). His mouth and nose are just a series of red glowing rips and slits in the centre of the face

Body: anthracite skin, red tribal tattoos around the biceps, claw hands and feet

Wearables: a big silver necklace with a medallion resembling the Dark Legion symbol (i.e., a diamond-shaped black gemstone, which, when looking deeply into it, shows a subtle discolouration resembling a demonic face), dark wash fluo-yellow cross-strap bracelets, cross-strap shin guards and belt (the latter has a round silver buckle), and a two-tone (matte and glossy) black skirt.

Weapons and accessories

This extremely agile creature comes with matching black and dark wash fluo-yellow decos of the standard sword and shield, as well as a brand new shield that sports a complex heraldic design (an evil dragon head in front of two crossed swords on a web-like background). The diversity of shades and tones of the blacks and yellows from the figure are carried over here as well.

Amber form

In addition to the normal and mutated forms, the Dimness edition of Masq-Lor will also include an "amber statue" variant, since such a form is briefly shown as a mid-transformation stage in the third comic issue Into dimness: Part II – Escape.

I’m not getting into the specifics of this figure, since it's just the normal form version with a few differences that I'm going to list below:

- The whole figure has been cast in a nice translucent amber plastic that also contains numerous tiny bubbles (which give it a slight cloudy opacity) and a number of indistinct dark inclusions

- His head is characterised by the hair of a dark wash yellow-brown colour (like that of a butterscotch candy) and solid red eyes. A darker, brownish airbrushing around the eyes makes the head appear translucent at the bottom and then get opaque as you go up the face

- The medallion and belt buckle have a bronze colour and a bit of glimmer to them (to help sell the idea that they might be embedded in solid resin, but they are still made of metal), while the necklace, bracelets, boots and belt are orange, but also have metallic qualities to them. The skirt is yellow-brown with different tones and sheen in different areas

- The figure comes with the standard sword and shield, which are also cast in translucent amber plastic with a metallic orange paint on the blade and symbol.

Final thoughts

Character value: ♦♦♦♦♦ It’s just like the old times, you know? Sure, Masq-Lor might also be an inanimate amber statue as well as a hideous and mindless monster of Wordron's in this representation, but even after all these years, there are few things better as a KR prototype reviewer than getting a new version of our hero

Articulation: ♥♥♥ The engineering on the three figures' joints is wonderful, so everything is stable and tight, but not at all limiting in terms of ease of posing; the only exception is that there’s no slit in the skirt piece, which would allow for deeper bends of the legs

Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣ PoliganToys have done a great job of capturing the essence of a young woodland fighter in the standard form, while the mutated form looks really evil, with the blackish and reddish tones making the basic body very imposing. On top of that, the translucent statue is nice and solid, all of the plastic feels strong and not at all brittle

Accessories: ♠♠♠♠ The set comes with a LOT of weaponry, and while no version of Masq-Lor can handle all of them at once, it is nice to have the option. I wish they had included an amber version of the bow and arrow, but that is not a deal breaker for me

Playability: ♪♪♪♪ I’m a sucker for both translucent toys and all-black evil palette swaps, so naturally when I got this set in my hands I felt such a lust for enjoyment

Overall: ☺☺☺☺ These are very nicely executed figures - the design, materials and engineering all came together for a very strong set. Kudos to PoliganToys for really knocking this one out. I had been waiting on this guy in the KR|Dimness series and I'm quite pleased with these prototypes.

KR|Dimness Review #23: Helimex

Toy prototype details

Name: Helimex^TM

Subtitle: shelled ravager

Line: KR|Dimness

Item type: action figure - Nº 19 in the line.

Character details

Name: Helimex

Classification: mollusc

Sex: hermaphrodite (but he appears as male)

Home: Tahron

Era: 5 years before Foundation

Affiliation: Dark Legion

Rank: auxiliary warrior.

Background

First appearance: KR|Dimness #2 - Masq-Lor's quest

Brief bio: using the magic of the ancient spirits enshrined in Clavisaur's body, the evil Wordron transformed some of the most savage animals of the jungles near the Ucamur^TM region into his own beastly servants. Grown to a human-like size and endowed with enhanced strength, these monsters fought under the Dark Legion banner as mercenaries. Originally a tough-skinned terrestrial mollusc, Helimex was gifted with impressive speed and agility even before being possessed by Clavisaur's spirit. His augmented abilities made him an excellent fighter and caused a rivalry with the ferocious bounty hunter Anobiac. With exceptional reflexes capable of deflecting every thwack, Helimex used his vicious spiked shells to help Wordron fight the Forseha tribe.

Articulation

Standard.

Description

Head: similar to a snail, characterised by a greenish skin with few black blotches, two sets of tentacles (the upper pair have two black eyes with vertical red pupils at the ends, while the lower pair are near the mouth), and a long Venom-like brown tongue covered in small curved whitish teeth protruding from his open mouth

Body: greenish skin with black blotches, claw hands and feet. He has two fin-shaped fleshy protrusions on the outer sides of his thighs and wears two studded steel armbands that bear a fin-shaped blade each. Some added glitter gives the impression that the skin secretes a slimy substance

Wearables: a red armour with metallic light-blue details (including a spiral design at the centre of the chest plate and a number of threaded motifs), two threaded red bracelets, two red boots with spiked tops, a studded red belt with a spiral-shaped buckle, and ridged light-blue shorts. Interestingly, several dribbles of translucent green slime hang from the bracelets and the belt.

Helimex's stylised armour; the circle at the centre of the chest piece represents the spiral design.

Action feature

In the comics, Helimex is equipped with two menacing large serrated "valves", which he holds in his hands and uses to crush opponents or, as he rotates wildly with his arms swung out, to knock down all enemies who dare get in his path. So, the figure comes with two ovate-conic shell-shields, which are rounded at the front and pointed at the back, and are held asymmetrically (i.e., one of the two shields is grasped with its tapering apex pointing forward). Each shield is spiny-edged, armoured with two long spikes projecting from the sides, and painted in pearlescent grey (with brownish, smudged dots and dashes spread unevenly over the surface) on the inside and in cream colour (with clouding of light-blue in four bands) on the outer surface.
Furthermore, when in danger, Helimex has the ability to withdraw his whole body into the shell-shields, which act as an armour against his foes. This feature is mimicked by disconnecting the two large shields from the figure's hands and joining them to form a single elongated, spirally coiled shell. The shields can also be attached to the figure's back, which makes for an interesting alternative display option.

Weapons and accessories

Apart from the two shell-shields, Helimex comes with a dangerous looking, long shard of crystal as a weapon, which he can wield nicely in either hand. This tapering spear-like accessory is moulded in translucent light-blue plastic with white frosting.

Final thoughts

Character value: ♦♦♦ I didn't find this character particularly interesting in the comic book, but I found myself enjoying the crazy weapons and showy look of this figure

Articulation: ♥♥♥♥ Luckily, the arm movement when holding the shields is unimpeded by the fin-blades on his arms. Also, each blade is attached on the biceps section while keeping it from touching the shoulder or forearm, thus retaining the full arm articulation

Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣ The inclusion of the slimy details adds a ton of value to what was, in my opinion, a fairly average sculpt, bringing it just above average. Paint was a big surprise on this figure - I was expecting it to look particularly toy-ish and plastic-looking, but they used some nice flat green plastic for the body, together with a darker green airbrush shading along the muscle striations that adds some depth to the sculpt

Accessories: ♠♠♠♠ The spear is a new sculpt, but the great addition is really the shell-shields. Not only can they be configured in a few different ways on Helimex's body for a variety of poses, but they can be removed and joined to form a cool snail shell

Playability: ♪♪♪♪ I’ll admit I wasn’t that excited for Helimex, but after playing around with him for a bit, I came to really enjoy the shell-shields; they're what makes this figure fun

Overall: ☺☺☺☺ Helimex is not a figure I was particularly looking forward to. Having the figure in hand, though, I’ve grown to appreciate his unique, if somewhat bold style. It’s further confirmation for me that even the characters I’m not particularly excited about can make for cool figures in hand.

KR|Enmity Review #26: Flail-Flinger & Dark Spirit Modi-Rha

As the race to the end of 2019 begins, I can announce that by this time next year I will be blogging about the last prototypes to be produced in the (supposed) final Key Raiders series, and a personal, seemingly unattainable milestone will be met. The realisation of that will be pretty powerful and will consolidate this creative undertaking as one of the longest in my life in terms of mission and dedication.

That being said, there is nothing like getting and reviewing a badass vehicle, along with a variant to the Dimness Edition of Modi-Rha bundled with it in a multi-pack, to look forward to that goal.

The Flail-Flinger^TM is the very first vehicle prototype produced for a KR series other than Foundation. This all-new long-demanded (by me) transport rolls into combat on real wheels, and features a big ass spinning flail as well as a self-powered single-seater module that takes off, sending the Dark Legion into battle.

Details

Name: Flail-Flinger

Subtitle: mobile demolisher with speed carrier

Classification: land vehicle

Home: Tahron

Affiliation: Dark Legion

Rank: transport.

Description

The Flail-Flinger is the combination of two smaller combat vehicles, and is painted in metallic blue with raised golden panels and black wheels that can roll on smooth surfaces. Both units bear multiple coloured tech details such as air intakes, handle bars and dashboards with sculpted knobs, screens and buttons.

The three-wheeled speed carrier on the left side accepts most KR female figures in the driver seat (which has an optional seat belt) and features a fearsome golden eagle head design on the nose cone over the front wheel, two detachable handgrips equipped with dual projecting devices (i.e., each handgrip has a gun and a scanner that fit at the top and bottom of the hand respectively) and three turbojet engines on the tailfinned back.

The mobile demolisher sports six rolling wheels (four small on the front and middle, and two large on the back) equipped with vicious hubcap spikes, and can fit a figure on the rear cockpit, which comes complete with a footboard, a pair of handle grips and a HUD face shield. This tank-like unit is embellished with impact-resistant panels and exhaust pipes on the sides, a dragon-themed motif with eye-cannons on the hull front and a monster face (which is very reminiscent of Wordron's face in his enhanced form) embossed on the rear hatch (which cannot be open, unfortunately).

Action feature

The left half of the Flail-Flinger is a detachable (via a magnetic system) speed carrier with a futuristic design and three real rolling wheels: two on the back and one on the front. The vehicle is characterised by a double configuration: when in speed-drive mode, the driver sits with the back upright and the handlebars are set vertically; when in attack-hover mode, the driver lies on the stomach and is enveloped in the vehicle's framework (the nose cone swings open and shut to enfold the upper body, and the rear pod unfolds and encases the lower body), while the handlebars swivel forward to acquire a horizontal position (the scanners allow the driver to navigate in a kind of augmented reality mode), and the rear fenders and wheels swing down and spread out to transform into a pair of wing-shaped hover pads.

The tank-like main body of the Flail-Flinger is a mobile demolisher, which is equipped with a revolving turret for a gigantic extensible ball-and-chain flail that spins when the vehicle is rolled forward or backward (you have to pull the turret up first, to engage the mechanism). The rotating armoured tower is connected by a sort of roller chain to a roughly spherical striking end, which has great details and consists of a dark-grey boulder surrounded by silver chains and studded with a myriad of silver spikes. The extensibility feature is recreated with two different gunmetal rigid roller chain pieces that make it possible to adjust the length of the flail for long or short alternatives; the mace piece can also be directly attached to the turret for the fully retracted display option.

Weapons and accessories

The speed carrier features five blasters on the front (two pairs on the sides, in the lower parts of the nose cone, and a larger central cannon on the top), while two pairs of small missile launchers are revealed when the rear fenders swing down.

Also included is an all-new version of Modi-Rha that features a Dark Spirit-inspired look. This is basically a repaint of Dimness Modi-Rha, which resembles the shadowy black silhouette projected from her body as seen in the comics of the Dimness series. The figure is cast in a black plastic and shows bright violet lines on its surface, like if it had fractured without coming apart. Modi-Rha comes with no weapon, but she looks cool with the speed carrier's detached weaponised handles in her hands.

Overall, the Flail-Flinger is a marvel. It's not quite as big as the Ceratank (incidentally, my other favourite vehicle in the KR line), but it's still quite large. The painting/tampo work here is mostly good, and, along with the nice metallic blue and gold highlights, there's a dark wash over the vehicle to help bring out the sculpted detail. The wheels roll well, and the spinning gimmick, while a little on the slow side, works alright. The included Modi-Rha variant is pretty cool all on its own. Simply put, this set is an extremely impressive offering.

KR|Dimness Review #22: Dhermot

Toy prototype details

Name: Dhermot^TM

Subtitle: gliding warrior

Line: KR|Dimness

Item type: action figure - Nº 18 in the line.

Character details

Name: Dhermot

Classification: dermopteran mammal (but he looks mostly human)

Sex: male

Home: Tahron

Era: 5 years before Foundation

Affiliation: Forseha

Rank: flying tribesman.

Background

First appearance: KR|Dimness #3 - Into dimness: Part II – Escape

Brief bio: Dhermot and his sister Ycabie^TM grew up with Solamya after their parents were killed by a devastating storm that struck their home in the Northern Forest. While his sister acquired special powers to communicate with animals thanks to Solamya's training, he was uncertain whether he would ever develop skills of his own aside from his exceptional gliding abilities. When the evil Wordron attacked the tribe's terramare settlement along with a horde of wicked Plant Creatures, Dhermot spared no effort in joining the ranks of the Forseha Defenders. His determination to fight the dreaded Dark Legion and to impress Dakun and Solamya both helped and hampered his noble actions, since he had yet to understand if his aim was to serve the greater good or to seek his own glory.

Articulation

Standard.

Description

Head: Afro-American features, black skin, blue eyes. He seems to wear a close-fitting dark-brown furry garment (but it is probably his natural growth of hair and facial hair), which is topped with a long crew cut and covers the whole head and neck except for the face and the ears (which are rounder and slightly larger than normal)

Body: almost entirely covered with a growth of short, fine dark-brown hair. His hands and feet show black skin, webbed spaces between the fingers and toes, and small sharp claws. Despite Dhermot displays a relatively light build in the comics, his figure uses the regular KR male body

Wearables: a poncho-like garment made of a piece of off-white buckskin with a hole in the middle for the head, two off-white leather bracelets, two off-white leather calf protectors (which buckle up at the back and bear triplets of greenish decorative buttons on the front), an off-white leather belt with a greenish tortoise-shell buckle, and a light-green loincloth of woven grass that incorporates a small brown leather purse attached to a loose fitting belt. His outfit is ornamented with light-green patterns (seemingly made of applied stone chips) that are reminiscent of "greek-key" meanders, and is fringed with a light-green featherwork.

Action feature

In the comics, Dhermot has the ability to glide through the air from one tree to another or from higher to lower locations with the aid of a patagium, a wingsuit-like dark-brown furry membrane of extra skin that stretches from his shoulders to his wrists, from his wrists to his ankles, and between his legs. For those wondering how Dhermot's patagium was executed, PoliganToys decided to include two plastic pieces that incorporate the poncho and plug into the back of the figure and into its limbs. The plastic used for these pieces has some pliability, so they’re not rock solid. The first alternative allows for having the skin flaps in a folded position, with the option of having the arms and legs plugged into them, to give the figure a standing-at-ease look. However, even when the limbs aren’t plugged in, the figure still looks natural and the membrane works more like a cape attached to the back (although the pegs are visible). The second option is the extended look, where the limbs have to be plugged into the patagium, because it would just seem too odd to have the skin flaps open and not have the arms and legs matching. I think this was a smart move by PoliganToys and is way better than the soft and rigid pieces used for the Reptonoid Troopers. I understand the approach that was taken on those figures, but the translation did not quite ring as true, especially with the rigid skin flaps. The solution used here looks pretty sharp on the figure, at least to me.

Weapons and accessories

Aside from the two interchangeable patagia+ponchos, Dhermot only comes with one accessory, which is his Chīmalli-like wooden shield. This piece is very nicely sculpted and looks like a greenish log with some pale-straw vines growing on it and a curtain of off-white feathers attached to the bottom portion. The reverse is equipped with a wrist-clip resembling a leather strap, which is used for carrying the shield.

Final thoughts

Character value: ♦♦ Dhermot is not a primary character at all, but his figure is one prototype I have been wanting for some time

Articulation: ♥♥♥ Some of the posing is still limited when the skin membrane pieces are on (for example, he is not going to be able to sit on his patagium), but I do like the way these work. The rest of the figure functions well

Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣ The sculpt and the paint job are fantastic, fairly true to the look and feel of his appearance in the comics. The figure has lots of nice details like the moulded fur and feathers on the character's headpiece, skin and outfit

Accessories: ♠♠♠♠ Even if it can kind of be a trick to get the clip to stay on the forearm, including a nicely sculpted shield was a good idea from the folks at PoliganToys

Playability: ♪♪ A cool tree-branch playset for him to glide from would be the only thing that would make this figure more fun

Overall: ☺☺☺ The best way to describe my opinion of Dhermot is enjoyment. The inspired patagium design (which is a massive improvement over the Reptonoid Troopers) and the inclusion of a nice accessory enhance the final product. This should have been at best a mediocre addition to the line; instead, it’s a figure I am excited to get.

KR|Dimness Review #21: Kratok

Toy prototype details

Name: Kratok^TM

Subtitle: brutal gladiator

Line: KR|Dimness

Item type: action figure - Nº 17 in the line.

Character details

Name: Kratok

Classification: mutant human

Sex: male

Home: Tahron

Era: 5 years before Foundation

Affiliation: Dark Legion

Rank: lieutenant colonel.

Background

First appearance: KR|Dimness #3 - Into dimness: Part II – Escape

Brief bio: during the Reptonoid domination of O-Kin^TM, the kingdom's population suffered the mutating effects of the chemical weapons deployed by Bi-Harr for psychological manipulation. A small percentage of the inhabitants who emerged were born with defects, and while some were fitted with electromechanical prostheses, some others were ostracised and banished from O-Kin. Those outcasts were eventually welcomed by the mysterious chief monk Mohrdax^TM into the shelter of his monastery near the Ucamur^TM region. When Wordron befriended Mohrdax, many cloisterers, including a malformed and disfigured man named Kratok, sided with the Dark Legion in their conflict with the Forseha tribe. Like his loyal friend Terebror, Kratok was tricked by Wordron into entering his laboratory, where he was transformed and grafted with a vicious weapon and a pair of cybernetic legs, allowing him to leap long distances and with great force. Towering over most of his opponents, Kratok reached new incredible heights when he was confronted by the Forseha warriors, and fought as a nearly unstoppable gladiator of immeasurable power.

Articulation

Standard, except that the left wrist is ball jointed, the knees are swivel-hinged, the ankles are only hinged and there's an additional double hinged point of articulation at the midtarsal joint of each foot.

Description

Head: Kratok sports an off-white (i.e., a white colour with a grey tinge that resembles tarnished silver) helmet with gold details, including a pair of long, curved horns emerging from the sides and a series of five spikes running centrally from the middle of the forehead to the back of the helmet. His face is concealed under a demonic bronze mask, which reminds me of a traditional Japanese mask, with completely black eye holes and a sculpted beard. While the helmet shows some cyber details here and there, the mask looks like it can be detached - I initially thought that was just an illusion created by the great sculpt, but it is actually removable... unfortunately there's no face underneath, just a socket

Body: the exposed parts of his body (i.e., arms and abdomen) show white skin. The left forearm has a mechanical golden bracer with a few black wires extending to the upper arm

Wearables: a laminar golden armour with off-white details and bolts around the edges, a bronze armband and a laminar golden gauntlet with a spiked cuff on the right arm, a spiked golden belt with two little side-compartments, and a pair of knee-long pearl white pants. Apart from two off-white spikes protruding from each spaulder and two criss-crossed black leather strings that join the two sides of the vertical opening on the front, the armour bears, like the helmet, a few sparse cyber details as well as three black tubes that run from the right side of the lower back to the left shoulder. Despite Kratok mainly relies on the viciousness of his bionic body parts, he is also briefly shown to use a melee weapon (more on this later) and two bronze daggers, which are two included separate pieces that are stowed in two small lamellar black leather scabbards integrated with his pants.

Kratok's stylised helmet with full-face mask.

Kratok's stylised armour.

Action feature

In the comics, Kratok is an excellent hand-to-hand combatant, highly trained in armed and unarmed combat. He has a pair of blade-like cybernetic lower legs, which provide him with superhuman strength and agility, a bionic left forearm that holds a high-tech swivelling crossbow-cannon, and, judging by their ability to glow occasionally, bionic eyes.

His below-knee bionic legs display a huge amount of tech-mech details and are connected to the upper legs via two steel sockets, to the back of which two golden "blades" are attached; these prostheses are really cool, because they resemble large mechanical theropod lower legs with nasty steel cleats on the soles of the feet. Moreover, each socket is connected to the top of the corresponding foot via two ball joints by a steel damper with a black coil spring encircling it. Although unfortunately there's no spring action in the figure, in the comics these spring-loaded attack legs allow Kratok to leap great distances and to strike with powerful kicks.

Additionally, Kratok's left arm is equipped with an ivory bolt that can be fictionally shot from his golden crossbow-cannon. This piece has a head in the form of a carved demon's face that is very similar to Kratok's mask, and can attach to and detach from the weapon, but there is no spring-loaded mechanism for shooting action.

Weapons and accessories

Apart from the crossbow-cannon bolt and the two daggers, Kratok comes with a few extra pieces and first up is his above-mentioned melee weapon - a double-bitted off-white battle axe with one of the two blades connected by a chain to a spiked golden wrecking ball. Even if it's a bit over exaggerated, I really like this weapon: it's nice and solid, fits well in the figure's hand and even has a beautiful coat of arms design, featuring a cross and dragons, engraved on the unchained blade.

Additionally, the figure includes a gauntleted left hand that can replace the entire crossbow-cannon, so we can make a two-handed version of the character, even if this never appears in the comic book. The two hands are especially practical for grasping the two daggers housed in the thighs.

Finally, there are two alternate face masks, which are identical to the standard one except for some paint differences: one has bright glow-in-the-dark eyes, while the other has reptile-like blueish eyes with vertical orange pupils and a red mouth. I get the necessity of the former, but I have no idea where the latter comes from... perhaps it acts as a sort of painted Daruma doll.

Comic

Together with the action figure we get the third and final comic issue Into dimness: Part II – Escape. Wordron recruits Mohrdax, the wicked chief monk of a nearby monastery, in a grand scheme to make the Forseha people undo themselves. The tribe learns that Wordron has enslaved the cloisterers of the monastery and decides to confront the villain, but the dispute reaches a deadlock. Frustrated, Masq-Lor shoots an arrow to distract Wordron, but the dart hits a disguised Mohrdax, who protects himself with a force-field. Masq-Lor is devastated when he sees the seemingly lifeless body lying on the ground. Convinced he has killed a man, he walks away consoled by his friends. In exchange for Mohrdax's collaboration, Wordron uses his knowledge to build an army for the evil monk. At the same time, he also discovers a new power of the Plant Creatures', which he wishes to test, and sends out his minions to capture some members of the Forseha tribe. A beautiful woman introduces herself as the inhabitant of a village that has been overrun by hideous creatures and asks for the tribesmen's help to liberate her people. The heroes are initially suspicious of her story, but, blinded by the woman's beauty, they decide to follow her anyway, ending up being met and overpowered by the Dark Legion soon after. It turns out the woman was in fact Modi-Rha in disguise, sent to lure the Forseha people into Wordron's trap. Alerted by Xehrea, the other heroes, including Masq-Lor, rush to help their fellows and, while Wordron is actually waiting for them, they burst into the villain's fortress, making the struggle between them and the members of the Dark Legion begin. Wordron gets the upper hand and when he's just about to use the Plant Creatures for torturing his victims, Masq-Lor offers himself as a replacement for his friends. Immediately, the boy is turned into a monster and Wordron orders him to kill his former companions, but in the very last moment Masq-Lor is freed from the curse by his own will and by Xehrea's encouraging words. The hero rushes back to Wordron and turns the tides of the battle single-handedly by killing the demon, while the other tribesmen free the remaining prisoners and defeat the Dark Legion once and for all.

Overall, if you look at the story from the logical point of view, the question will be: why doesn't Wordron capture his enemies in the first meeting? The answer is that he's planning to overcome Masq-Lor with grief, in order to eventually use the boy's potential for his evil plans. The story gives the new characters plenty of exposure and the advancement of plot details, such as Masq-Lor questioning his worthiness to fight and the definitive vanquishment of Wordron and his Dark Legion, makes it be worthy of a great series finale.

Final thoughts

Character value: ♦♦♦ While Kratok may not be the most interesting character for many, he sure does add presence to the line-up among the more familiar characters

Articulation: ♥♥♥ Since he’s not overly armoured, he doesn’t have much to hinder his articulation in the upper body, so he moves quite well. However, I find that due to their peculiar design, his legs are less articulated than I’d like

Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣ Kratok looks appropriately vicious with his face mask and bionic parts. The colours of the figure look good to me, although they aren’t 100% comic book-accurate

Accessories: ♠♠♠ All the extra items are neat additions and their inclusion adds enormously to the overall package. I do notice and appreciate the metallic shine given off from some of the paint

Playability: ♪♪♪♪ I have a lot of fun with this figure, he looks super cool posed with the rest of the KR|Dimness guys, because he has such a unique look and colour scheme. The attachments are also great fun to swap out and pose

Overall: ☺☺☺ While Kratok may not be a figure that will stand out for many potential KR fans, I’m glad to have him on my shelf.

KR|Dimness Review #20: Xehrea

Toy prototype details

Name: Xehrea^TM

Subtitle: beautiful water nymph

Line: KR|Dimness

Item type: action figure - Nº 16 in the line.

Character details

Name: Xehrea

Classification: sirenian mammal (but she looks mostly human)

Sex: female

Home: Tahron

Era: 5 years before Foundation

Affiliation: Forseha

Rank: tribe observer.

Background

First appearance: KR|Dimness #2 - Masq-Lor's quest

Brief bio: the member of a group of shapeshifting water creatures from Ucamur^TM, who were eventually expelled by occupying forces and made their home in the Forseha settlement, Xehrea grew up enjoying both scampering on dry land and swimming in the flowing waters of the river Atogg^TM. Thanks to mystical items that she received from her father, she gained the powers to control water and to summon all creatures of the river, especially her faithful giant otters. Although Xehrea belonged to a peaceful ethnic group, when Wordron's evil menace arose, this young water nymph fought bravely against the wicked foes to protect her friends.

Articulation

Standard, excluding hinged abdomen.

Description

Head: Native Hawaiian features, light-brown skin, long curly dark-brown hair (adorned with a fairly large iridescent light-green snail shell at the left side, while two locks, draped over her right shoulder, are embellished with shell beads) and blue eyes

Body: slightly shorter than the adult characters (only 14 cm, around 5.5"), light-brown skin, webbed hands. She wears two light-green pondweed armbands and a fish-shaped silver navel piercing jewel

Wearables: a shell bra with iridescent light-blue valve-cups and criss-crossed light-green pondweed straps, a shell necklace with a hydra-shaped silver pendant, two scaly light-blue bracelets, two scaly light-blue boots, a scaly light-blue belt with a crayfish-shaped silver buckle, and a thigh-length light-green pondweed skirt. The bracers and boots sport flipper-like fins at the sides, and, like with the belt, their fish scale effect is enhanced and brought out by an added glitter effect.

Action feature

In the comics, Xehrea shows a number of capabilities. First, she can control and manipulate the movement of liquid water using the power of her magical hydra pendant.

Additionally, to engage in battle both on land and in water, she has the ability to transform her lower body into a sort of mermaid tail by mystically growing the leaves of her pondweed skirt, which wrap the legs completely and form two large flukes at the end; in this conformation, Xehrea gains super-fast swimming and underwater adaption skills. So, the figure comes with an alternate lower section that replaces the legs and attaches to the upper body by a peg at the waist. I'd say that this mermaid tail (which includes a slightly different version of the standard belt) is something of a masterpiece, with amazing leafy texture, light-green (and dark-green wash) paint deco, added glitter for "wet" effect, and articulation in three parts (hinged crotch, swivel-hinged "knees" and swivel-hinged tail fin). Yes, the skirt is also shown to transform into a pair of trousers at some point in the comics, but I'm totally OK with not getting an additional set of legs.

Finally, PoliganToys has included a horn-shaped multicoloured snail shell, which Xehrea fictionally uses to produce underwater sound waves for control of all aquatic life and occasionally for echolocation. Unfortunately, the figure's hair prevents Xehrea from stowing this accessory in her bra band like she does in the comics.

Weapons and accessories

Aside from the alternate tail piece and shell horn, Xehrea comes with a greenish oxidised bronze staff that has a trishula-like trident at one end and a swordbreaker blade at the other end. This weapon looks great with her, and the little blue gem at the base of the central prong is a nice detail.

Also, included with the figure is a water-looking, articulated posing stand with a sort of clamp for her tail, which allows Xehrea to be displayed in her mermaid form. It works decently, not perfectly, but it's a cool water effect and helps her strike a few different swimming poses.

If I had a vote for what else to give her, I would add one of her river otter friends, but to be honest, she is probably pushing the budget as it is. Update: the otter will be included with Pike! This little (well, actually not that little) figure has minimal articulation (neck and tail only), but it’s got a great expressive face. The fur is chocolate brown, the legs are short and stubby, and end in powerful, large webbed feet tipped with sharp claws, while the tail is long and muscular. Additionally, its trunk has a number of scale-covered, fawn bony protective bands that are seemingly connected via flexible skin. It’s not a great figure, but it makes for fun background detail in scenes and looks fabulous on the shelf with Xehrea.

Final thoughts

Character value: ♦♦♦ I think Xehrea is a great addition to the line-up. If I just wanted a mermaid character, this maybe isn’t what I would expect, but since I'm collecting KR prototypes, she’s really going to spice up the shelf as part of the collection

Articulation: ♥♥♥ Although her tail is not the most flexible item, she’s surprisingly manoeuvrable and her hair doesn’t cause any problems

Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣ A lot of work went into the tail, which is the most detailed part of the figure

Accessories: ♠♠♠ The staff is wonderful, while the posing stand is not the best, but it suffices. Update: While I would like a fully articulated otter at some point, the one that will accompany Pike completes what I wanted with Xehrea for my purposes

Playability: ♪♪♪♪ Thanks to a mermaid tail and legs that are interchangeable, her design is unique and doesn't compare with anything that came in this series before

Overall: ☺☺☺ Xehrea is just good enough to live up to expectations, though she doesn't necessarily exceed them. She’s not a standout figure like Yla-Nha or Viluptra, but maybe I’ve been spoilt by those prototypes. However, Xehrea is painted much better than Modi-Rha and came out one step ahead in comparison.